Jailed Egyptian blogger on hunger strike

New York, August 31, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egypt's
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to immediately release journalist Maikel Nabil Sanad, who was tried in
military court for "insulting the military" and is now serving a three-year
sentence in prison. Sanad began a hunger strike in prison on August 22 and was
transferred to solitary confinement two days later.

Sanad, who runs his own blog,
was arrested after
he wrote an article criticizing
the military and describing his torture by the military while he was in
detention. He also said the military was the real threat to the country--not the
deposed President Hosni Mubarak. Sanad, a civilian, was sentenced
to three years in prison for "insulting the military" after a trial in military
court, his defense lawyer, Ali Atef, told CPJ.
In early July, the journalist's defense team submitted an appeal, but the
military council said he might not get a court date for another year and a
half, his brother, Marc Nabil Sanad, told CPJ.

"We are concerned about the health of Maikel Nabil Sanad and hold the
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces responsible for his well-being," said
CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "This is a defamation case in which the
army is not only judge and jury, but plaintiff too. Journalists are civilians
and should not be hauled into military court every time they write something
that displeases the armed forces. Sanad must be released immediately."

Sanad, who has been in prison
since March 28, began a hunger strike on August 22 to protest his continued
imprisonment, his alleged mistreatment at the hands of the military prison
guards, and the delays in dealing with his appeal, his brother, Marc, told CPJ.
The guards have threatened him with solitary confinement and refused to let him
go to the hospital, Marc said. On August 24, the military council put the
journalist in continuous 24-hour
solitary confinement. Prison officials did not acknowledge his hunger strike
for three days, Marc told CPJ.

On Tuesday, Sanad stopped drinking water and refused to take
his heart medication, his brother said. He suffers from a heart condition that
requires medical attention, and since his imprisonment, he has not been allowed
to go to the hospital, Marc said. The journalist's family tried to visit him in
prison on Monday, but prison guards told them Sanad "refused" to see them,
which increased their concerns about his possible mistreatment in prison.

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawy, chief of the military
council, recently pardoned 230 political detainees who had no prior convictions
on the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr holiday that follows Ramadan. Tantawy did
not pardon Sanad, the government's daily newspaper Al-Ahramreported.

"I just don't understand why Maikel's treatment is different from everyone else's," the
journalist's brother told CPJ. "The military council refuses to give us any
answers as to why they continue to single out Maikel--out of the hundreds who outwardly criticize the military."

On Monday, Sanad's family and several human rights activists
protested outside the Ministry of Defense, calling for the journalist's release
and for equal treatment of all political prisoners tried in military courts, local
advocacy groups said.